nut height

[64lusso]

Ok I have done a setup search but I don't see any specific info on the above topic---I am sure it has been discussed before but I couldn't find it.
Just bought a MIJ Jazz on e-bay and my first impression was it was a real POS but now that I have changed strings (I didn't know strings could get that bad!) changed the neck angle, tweaked the relief, set intonation and bridge height I am actually quite happy with it. However my first impression was the nut slots were not cut low enough but I didn't want to fiddle with that until I had the rest of it in pretty good shape. I don't want to cut them to low and create rattles so does anybody have a good rule of thumb for setting string hieght at the nut?

 

[telekaster]

Depress the string at the 3rd fret so that it forms a "bridge" over the 1st fret. There should be a little gap between the string and the first fret. What I've found to be optimal is to just have the string barely clear the 1st fret when doing this little test.

I hate it when nut slots are too high. Guitars feel so much better when the nut is cut just right. I had a pro do one of my guitars and that gap above the 1st fret (when fretting the 3rd fret) is very small - just small enough to see a little bit of space. I might estimate around .2mm (maybe even less), or as close as you can get without going too low. Hope that helps a little...

 

[64lusso]

Yes that is exactly what I was looking for, I knew that just a little space was all you needed for a guitar but thought maybe a bass needed a little more room. Right now there is maybe 1/16" or more between the strings and frets so lotsa room for improvement.